Furious
traders angry at the way a main shopping street in Coventry was
closed without any warning have won a concession to tempt
customers back through the chaos.

Walsgrave
Road running through the Ball Hill shopping area in Stoke shut in
January for repairs to the road and footpath and tree maintenance.

A
section of the busy street has been closed to traffic since then,
with a diversion in place.

But
residents living near the closure and traders in shops on the
street were not told in advance about the 12-week disruption.

Coventry
City Council has now agreed to make parking in the nearby Clay
Lane car park free until the work ends later this month.

The
pay machines in Clay Lane Car Park have been bagged over to allow
free parking to take place.

A
spokesperson for the city council said:

“The
reconstruction work being carried out on Walsgrave Road is
progressing well and it is likely that Walsgrave Road will be
re-opened during Saturday 17 March 2001 and the remainder of the
work to the footpaths be completed shortly after.”